Three men were arrested for impersonating U.S. Border Patrol agents in an attempt to smuggle 24 migrants into the United States. The suspects, Uriel Perez-Cardenas, Jovani Sanchez-Cortez, and Kevin Valdez Ramirez, face federal charges for their involvement in the scheme. The men, two Americans, and one Mexican modified a white Ford F150 truck to resemble a Border Patrol K-9 vehicle and used fake uniforms to carry out their plan.
The smugglers transported the migrants to a stash house in Yuma, Arizona, which was rented as a short-term property. The house appeared deserted when a reporter with The Daily Mail visited in early February, and neighbors were unaware of its use for hiding migrants.
The incident occurred just days before President Donald Trump's inauguration amid heightened border security measures. The stricter policies have significantly reduced illegal crossings in Yuma, once a hotspot for such activities. The number of migrants entering Yuma has drastically decreased since President Trump's return to office, with only a small group of eight migrants arriving in the first three weeks of his administration.
San Luis Police Lt. Emmanuel Botello expressed concerns that such crimes might become more frequent due to the challenges asylum-seekers face under the current administration.
“It is bound to happen more often, because we’re gonna have a lot of people that are coming in and knowing the current administration that we’re in, Border Patrol is very active right now, and ICE agents are very active too,” he said.